Kesari

“Kumar leaps about well and does his best Sunny Deol impression — or the best he can manage from behind a distractingly fake beard. The other soldiers appear more authentic, most of them caring enough about the film to leave their hair long and actually grow their beards, but they haven’t been given as much to do besides rally behind Kumar The Unbeatable.”

Rating: 2 stars | Full review

“There’s a worthy tribute due to those 21 men, but this reductive, gratuitous film isn’t it.”

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“The film rests on a sluggish screenplay that is guilty of too much sermonising and caricaturish characterisation. Part of the problem is that it’s a one-man show for Akshay Kumar. The writers have very little interest in developing or shading other characters.”

Rating: 2.5 stars | Full review

“Akshay Kumar stretches his vocal cords to breaking point in Kesari, but his presence proves to be one of the many deterrents.”

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“Tells us nothing new about the Battle of Saragarhi – this is Indian pride rolled in the form of a Wikipedia article”

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“Would be a lot more taut and short than its 150 minutes if its building up for battle revealed more strategy than shenanigans.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

“Bollywood categorises Sikhs into two clear-cut groups: the undiluted boisterous buffoon and the undiluted braveheart. Kesari deals in the latter… Blanket statements and blanket characterisations of communities in films should always give us pause.”

Rating: 2 stars | Full review

“The Battle of Saragarhi, on which ‘Kesari’ is based, ought to have been embellishment proof… The absolute nature of the sacrifice of the Jat Sikh fighters of the ‘36th Sikhs’ on that fateful day – 12th of September 1897 – is so stark and awe inspiring, that any additions or exaggeration to the nature of the conflict would be a disservice and a dishonour to the memory of it.”

Rating: 2 stars | Full review

“What works for the film is its unapologetic embrace of loudness and lack of nuance: rousing speeches of patriotism keep breaking into the bloody action on the battlefield. Akshay gets the maximum, naturally.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

“Might well be actor Akshay Kumar’s finest performance ever. And this has much to do with an earthy, true-blue, proud Punjabiness that he exudes in his natural persona that translates so seamlessly on to the big screen.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

“The writers pad up the bare bones plot with a lot of fanciful canon fodder.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

"A story so astounding that if it wasn’t true, you would never believe it."

Rating: 2.5 stars | Full review